As the Country Director of Casa – Pueblito, I’d like to express my solidarity and support to our community partners, friends, and family all over Nicaragua in light of the recent violence. Nicaragua is my home away from home, and, along with my friends and family at the Casa, have been profoundly affected by the loss of life and violence that has occurred over the past week.

As an organization born out of the fight for justice in Nicaragua during the 1980s, Casa – Pueblito recognizes that in moments of civil unrest, it is often the most vulnerable in society who are affected the most. Our work with vulnerable communities will continue, as it has since we began in Nicaragua in 1992. Regardless of what happens in the aftermath of these events, Casa – Pueblito remains committed to working in solidarity with our communities for compassion and social justice across borders.

On a personal level, I’m grateful for our incredible community members who have reached out to check in on the situation in Managua and how the team at Casa has been doing since last week. Our partnerships with our communities go beyond projects; they’re build on real human relationships of care, solidarity, and love, and that has really shown in the past week.

To me, solidarity has always meant being with people through joyful moments and hard ones, and the recent events have certainly been hard moments. I’m thankful for a wonderful team of coworkers and community partners, and committed to the work that remains to be done here in Nicaragua.